The polls are now finally in. In Chatham and Aylesford, under Vince we were able to increase our share of the vote by around 50%, to over 15,000. While this wasn’t enough to secure the seat for our candidate, we should be proud that all of our hard work resulted in a substantial increase in support – especially given the extremely short notice and the timeframe this snap election was called over, when only a month before Prime Minister Theresa May vowed not to hold an election. We are very proud of Vince’s hard work and the excellent way he was able to forward the Labour message be it online, on the doorstep or at hustings.

Nationally, we performed far better than the pundits expected. The party made substantial gains from the Conservatives; particularly in Canterbury where we took a seat that has been with the Tories for over 90 years. Locally we must learn from our friends and colleagues who were able to make these amazing gains in seats across the nation.

This is not the end of the road, but the beginning – with this snap general election we will take this experience on board, keep building and never give up on building a better, fairer society. Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication.

Meet your candidate, Vince Maple, at the C&A all members meeting, 5th of May. While we do encourage you to attend, for those of you who can’t make it to Snodland, we’ll be LIVE STREAMING Vince’s speech as his campaign opens right on our Facebook page along with our KCC candidates and our IT coordinator (that’s me!) soon after 7:30PM on the 5th so remember to tune in!

We are excited to be able to announce that our new parliamentary candidate is none other than councillor Vince Maple. Vince has an outstanding background as leader of the Medway Labour group and has been a dedicated, local councillor in Medway since 2007.

We learned about this today at the Medway May Day event organised by the Medway TUC as he made an address to a gathered crowd of supporters of the NHS.

The other two candidates announced in the Medway area today are Teresa Murray for Rochester and Strood and Andy Stamp for Gillingham and Rainham.

We ask all of our members and supporters to give it your all for our candidates, and make this general election a success for Labour in Medway and the surrounding areas!

With two elections coming up in the Chatham and Aylesford area – both the General Election on the 8th of June and for those of you living outside Medway in our constituency there are the upcoming Kent County Council elections coming up on the 4th of May you might be wondering “How do I register?”

There’s some excellent stuff on growing Kent’s economy, making sure disadvantaged pupils in schools don’t get left behind, tackling the lack of investment in Kent’s transport infrastructure and generally giving the area a sense of direction that has been sorely lacking under the Tories.

Our excellent KCC candidates from the Chatham and Aylesford constituency Wayne and Lola are standing on this manifesto so be sure to check it out!

These are our two fantastic council candidates for the Kent County Council elections. Election date is the 4th of May so make sure you’re registered to vote to support our candidates!

Lola

People have felt repeatedly let down by the Conservative controlled Kent County Council. On Thursday May 4th you can elect Lola Ayeni to represent you. Lola lives in the ward and is a great community activist. Lola has been active in her church and recently has hosted a fundraising event helping both WaterAid and Age UK. Lola is passionate about bringing positive change to the community as well as supporting any individuals & families who need support. Lola has also been active in campaigning against crippling rises in rail fares which we know impact on many residents across the area. If elected Lola’s priorities will be ensuring the community have a voice in KCC decision making as well as working with others to push for decent health care, social care and education for all.

Wayne

People have felt repeatedly let down by the Conservative controlled Kent County Council. On Thursday May 4th you can elect Wayne Mallard to represent you. Wayne lives in the ward and is a great community activist. Wayne has been an active resident in Snodland, helping with many local community projects including The Beat Project. Wayne is passionate about bringing positive change to the community as well as supporting any individuals & families who need support. Wayne has also been active in campaigning against crippling rises in rail fares which we know impact on many residents across the area. Wayne has also spoken about the NHS in Kent at Labour Party Conference. If elected Wayne’s priorities will be ensuring the community have a voice in KCC decision making as well as working with others to push for decent health care, social care and education for all.